1. Technical Field
The invention concerns an absorbent product, such as a diaper, an incontinence protection or the like, comprising a fluid permeable top sheet, a fluid impermeable backing sheet facing away from the wearer at use, an absorbent core, positioned between the wearer and the backing sheet, which absorbent core has an upper side, facing the wearer at use, a bottom side, facing away from the wearer at use, two longitudinally running sides and two laterally running sides, whereby the product further comprises two longitudinally running barrier flaps at the longitudinally running sides of the absorbent core, and whereby the top sheet covers the upper side of the absorbent core.
2. Technical Background
The diapers that are available today on the market have been developed to fulfil a number of demands and expectations of the consumers. For instance, it is important that they have a good fit, a good absorption capacity, and that they have reliable and high-qualitative fastening systems.
Conventional diapers are often manufactured in such a way that they have a fluid permeable top sheet facing the user, and a fluid impermeable backing sheet facing away from the user. Between these sheets an absorbent core is placed. The top sheet and the backing sheet are normally applied to each other in the area outside the absorbent core and to the leg elastics of diaper along the longitudinal sides of the absorbent core. In this way, liquid that has been given off may penetrate the top sheet and get into the absorbent core, without the risk of coming out of the absorbent product. The good absorption capacity is achieved by using highly absorbent material in the absorbent core of the diaper, for example superabsorbents, which have a very large capacity to absorb fluid.
However, it will take some time from the moment fluid is given off of the wearer until it reaches the highly absorbent material in the core and is stored there, since the transport of fluid into the material, as well as the absorption of fluid by the superabsorbents, take time. Accordingly, it is important that all fluid that is given off also reaches the highly absorbent material, for leakage not to occur. For this reason leg elastics have been developed, so that the diaper closes around the legs of the wearer, and makes it difficult for fluid to come out of the absorbent product.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,303 a diaper is disclosed which has a pocket-like space between the absorbent core and an outer barrier sheet. The purpose of this space is to function as a reservoir when the absorbent core has not absorbed all fluid, i.e. during the time the fluid is transported into and is stored within the absorbent core.
So called barrier flaps (or standing gathers) have been developed, which run in parallel to the leg elastics. The purpose of the flaps is to function as a barrier for the fluid and to prevent it from leaking out of the diaper.
However, it has been shown that these barrier flaps not always are sufficient. If for example the wearer lies down on the side, fluid that recently has been given off may bear on e.g. one of the barrier flaps and may in certain cases flow over the flap and out of the diaper. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a product solving this leakage problem in an effective manner.